It's A Wonderful Curse
by Paige42
Summary: Ryan has a run in with a holiday classic


TITLE: It's a Wonderful Curse  
AUTHOR: Sam (Lestrade42)  
RATING: PG-13  
FEEDBACK: It's Christmas, damn it. Give some love :-)  
DISCLAIMER: All established characters (Micki, Ryan, Jack, Johnny, Mrs. Dallion, Rasheed, Lewis etc....) belong to Frank Mancuso, Jr. Kate Brannigan is a creation of Karen. All other are mine.  
EXPLANATION: You should know by now...  
  
Merry Christmas, Karen.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Ryan sneezed again. "Are you sure there's another box back here, Jack?"  
  
"There should be. We're missing the star." Jack Marshack's voice was muffled by mounds of boxes overflowing with Christmas lights.  
  
"Got it." Ryan shimmied out of the cabinet, dust bunnies hanging from his hair. He brandished the box. "Man, this thing is huge. Are you sure the tree will hold it?"  
  
"Let's hope so. It's a little late to buy a new tree."   
  
Ryan nodded and started up the stairs.   
  
"Ryan? Is everything okay?"  
  
"Yeah, just thinking about stuff, you know?"  
  
"Yes. Yes, I think I do." Jack clapped him on the shoulder and started up the stairs.   
  
Micki hummed as she threw handfuls of tinsel along the tree. Johnny ducked as her hand went past his face.   
  
"Watch it! You'll put someone's eye out with that stuff." He smiled and tossed a handful at her. Ryan entered the room with Jack in tow, singing a merry course of Jingle Bells.  
  
"Found the star."   
  
Johnny plucked tinsel from his hair. "Hey, where's Kate?"   
  
Micki grabbed the ladder, tinsel still in hand. "Upstairs. She said something about hot chocolate."  
  
Johnny wandered upstairs to the sounds of Jack growling. "Now how am I supposed to put the lights on if you've already got the tree half decorated?"  
  
"Kate?" Johnny poked his head around the corner into the kitchen. She was standing at the stove, a small pot in her hand, but she hadn't answered him. "Kate? You okay?"  
  
"Yeah," she answered. Her voice was shaky. "I'm fine. I'll be down in a minute."  
  
Johnny walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"  
  
She turned to him, her eyes red and teary. "I just... Ryan's mom used to make us dinner on Christmas Eve. I helped decorate and all. Then I'd go home and do the same thing with my parents. I feel... It's weird. I didn't realize how much they all played a part in my life till now. I just... I miss them."  
  
Johnny took her into his arms and stroked her hair. "I know. I keep thinking about my dad and what we used to do. It's what the season does to you. It's wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. We have great times with those still here, but we can't help but think about the people that have left us. But the best thing we can do is to celebrate their memory, not mourn it."  
  
She laughed. "You've been reading those literary magazines again, haven't you?"  
  
"Damn, does it show that badly?" He winked at her and leaned down for a kiss.  
  
A throat cleared itself from the doorway. "Am I interrupting something?" Ryan leaned in the door, his face grim.  
  
Kate wiped her eyes. "No, I was being a teary-eyed mess. Want some hot chocolate?"  
  
Ryan didn't answer her. He grabbed his jacket and threw it around his shoulders.  
  
"Ryan?" Kate followed him as he charged down the stairs. "Ryan, what's wrong?"  
  
Ryan pushed past Micki and headed for the door. "I'm going for a walk."  
  
"But Ryan, it's 11 degrees outside!" Kate shouted as the door slammed behind him. Then, she turned to face the rest of the crew. "Oh boy."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ryan's breath clouded around him as he ran. He didn't even know why he really got so mad. He was a little depressed, but that's only natural. First Christmas without his mother, Kate's parents were gone too. But something about seeing Kate and Johnny together had set him off. Then it got worse as he ran. If it hadn't been for him, Micki would be married and have a family of her own. If it hadn't been for him, Jack would still be traveling the world. If it hadn't been for him, Johnny would have been a world famous writer. If it hadn't been for him.... And the list went on and on. Ryan finally stopped at a train overpass. He looked down, rocks jutting up from the ground sharp as razors. One seconds courage and he'd be gone. "God, I wish I was never born." As Ryan's hand reached for the rail, a scream came from next to him. He looked just in time as a brown haired girl jumped on the concrete next to him and started to jump off. "No!" Ryan dove and grabbed out for her hand. She slipped down, hanging over the side. Ryan's grip on her wrist started to faulter. "Walk up the wall! Hurry!" The girl braced her feet against the concrete and started to walk up. Ryan grabbed out for her other hand and hauled her over the rail.  
  
They both sat gasping for breath. Ryan finally got a look at the girl he had saved. She was petite. Cracked glasses peered out from under a tousle of cropped brunette curls. She smiled. "Thank God. I was beginning to think you wouldn't catch me."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
She got up and dusted herself off. She was dressed like a bum, old torn clothes that were sizes too large for her hanging from her thin arms. "A second more to think and I'da been road pizza. You got some good reflexes."  
  
Ryan's mouth hung open. The girl smiled. "You know, you keep looking at me like that and you're face will freeze that way."  
  
"Wait a minute. You did that so I would catch you? Are you crazy?"  
  
"Nope. I'm dead. So I really didn't have much to lose... Except a nice headache when I got back to heaven."  
  
"Dead?" He backed away slowly. "Did my uncle send you?"  
  
"Don't be silly. They dress much flashier than I do. That's how you can tell. Anyway, come on, we got lots to do."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell are you?"  
  
She turned back to him, annoyed. "Look Ryan..."  
  
"You know my name!"  
  
"Can I finish?" After a wordless nod from Ryan, she continued. "Look Ryan, you're a bit of a movie buff, right?"  
  
"Kinda."  
  
"What is this a classic scene from?"   
  
A confused look crossed Ryan's face. "The Tiny Toons Christmas Special?"  
  
The girl groaned. "Okay, and what was that a take off of?"  
  
Again, confusion passed across Ryan's face.  
  
"I'll give you a hint. It has Jimmy Stewart in it."  
  
"Harvey?"  
  
"No! I'm your guardian angel and I'm going to grant you your wish to show you what the world would be like without you. Get it now."  
  
"Oh." He thought for a minute. "Oh! 'It's A Wonderful Life'. I get it. Yeah. Well, thanks but no thanks."  
  
"Too late. We got tracks to make. Oh, the name's Elizabeth. Let's go, boy."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ryan looked around him. Chicago hadn't changed much. Elizabeth hadn't really talked since they left the track. He had a funny feeling that he'd seen her before. "You know, you look just like..."  
  
"Yeah, I know," she cut him off. "I get it all the time. Here we are."  
  
They had stopped in front of a dilapidated building. Boards that had once covered the windows had long since fallen away.  
  
"Here we are where?"  
  
"This is 999 Druid Avenue today."  
  
Ryan's jaw dropped. It was wrecked, empty. He started to the door.  
  
"They aren't in there."  
  
"What aren't in there?"  
  
"Micki. Jack. Johnny. Kate. The antiques. Nothing. It's empty. No one's lived in here since 1988."  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
"You sure you want to know?"  
  
Ryan grabbed Elizabeth by the collar and threw her against the door. "Where are they!?"  
  
Elizabeth snapped her fingers. Suddenly they were in a cemetery. She pushed Ryan away and pointed. "There they are."  
  
Two headstones stood next to each other. ' Michelle Foster- September 28, 1960 to October 17, 1988 ' . ' Jack Marshack- May 14, 1947 to October 17, 1988' . Ryan fell to his knees. "Both of them. How?"  
  
"The Coin of Zioclese. Micki died as you saw, but this time she stayed dead because you weren't there to make the mask of Hyberia to fool them into bringing her back. But also, you weren't there to warn Jack when the cult members came back to the shop. So he died too. The cult members then went back and told Sylvan about the vault and they cleaned it out."   
  
"Johnny?"  
  
She pointed to the other side of the cemetery. Ryan stood, angry. "No. That's not possible. My not having ever met him should have saved him."  
  
"Oh you think so, huh? Ryan, the objects are still out there, now more so than before because there's no one looking for them or for the people using them."  
  
Ryan numbly walked over to a lone headstone next to a family plot. ' Jonathan Ventura- May 15, 1964 to June 5, 1989 '.   
  
Elizabeth spoke over his shoulder. "His father was still a security guard. He was still killed by Risback with the Chinese bomber jacket he got in prison. Johnny still went to prison for his fathers murder, but Johnny himself was killed by Risback in prison just in case he tried to prove that it was Risback that really killed his father."  
  
Ryan took a few deep breaths. This can't be true. Not all because of one person. Kate always said... Oh God... "Where's Kate?"  
  
Elizabeth sighed. "You sure?" As Ryan rose, his fists balled up. "Okay, okay. I'll take you to her." Another snap of the fingers and they were gone.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ryan walked slowly around the Brannigan home. It hadn't burned down. Everything was just as he remembered it. Elizabeth leaned against a wall and pointed a finger in the living room. "You'll want to check in there."  
  
Ryan peeked in. Mr. and Mrs. Brannigan were seated at their dining room table, eating a Christmas dinner. Rage gleamed in Ryan's eyes as he turned to the, so called, angel. "You bitch. You heartless bitch! First you make me feel like I killed three of the most important people in my life and now you show me a happy family! So my never having existed would keep the Brannigan's alive. That's great."   
  
Elizabeth fumed and slapped him across the face. She spun him around to face the dining room again. "Who's missing from this happy family portrait?"  
  
Ryan scanned the room. "Jamie."  
  
"And?"  
  
A moment passed. "Oh no. Not her too. She's..."  
  
Elizabeth sagged. "Oh no. She's not dead. It's much worse than that." A snap of the fingers later they were standing in a long white hallway. Elizabeth tilted her head to the right. "Second door down."  
  
Ryan slowly padded along the hall and peered into the window she mentioned. "Oh Kate... No..."  
  
Kate sat balled in a corner, her arms tied back in a straight jacket. Her once beautiful blonde hair hung stringy and unwashed in her face. Drool dripped slowly from the corner of her mouth.  
  
"No!" Ryan slammed his hands against the door, then slumped to the floor.  
  
"After Jamie's murder she went insane just like everyone said she would... all because you weren't there to talk to her."  
  
Tears streamed down Ryan's face as everything sunk in. What was it Kate had said earlier? 'I didn't realize how much they all played a part in my life till now.' He looked up at Elizabeth. "Can I go back now?"  
  
She smiled. "I thought you would have said that after you saw Micki and Jack."  
  
"Well, I'm stubborn."  
  
She laughed. "Well, you've seen the movie, so you know what you gotta do."  
  
He nodded. "I want to live again."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kate checked her watch. "Guys, I'm worried. He's been gone almost an hour." She reached over and grabbed her jacket. "I'm going to look for him." Before anyone could voice a protest, she was out the door.   
  
A moment later, Ryan burst through the front door. "Merry Christmas!" He ran to Jack and threw his arms around him. "Jack, thanks for everything. Just ease up on the morals every time we get something back, okay?" As Jack sputtered a response, Ryan hurried over to Micki. He kissed her cheek and wrapped her up in a hug. "Micki, you're the best cousin a guy could have. Thanks for keeping me in line."   
  
"Uh..."  
  
Ryan jumped over to Johnny and bear hugged him. "Johnny, you've put your life on the line for me. I can never thank you enough." Ryan looked around the room for his fourth thank you. "Where's Kate?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ryan?" Kate tightened her coat around her neck.   
  
"Spare some change, lady?" a bum called up from the sidewalk.  
  
Kate felt in her pockets. "I'm sorry. I don't have anything on me. Wait," she said as she pulled off her gloves and her scarf. "Here."  
  
"Hey, thanks lady. You lookin for someone?"  
  
"Yeah, a friend of mine. He went out for a walk awhile ago and I'm worried."  
  
"Was he a tall guy, dark haired, good looking?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh I just seen him running down Druid Ave a minute ago."  
  
Kate looked down the block. She must have just missed him. "Thanks alot."  
  
The bum smiled up at her. "Merry Christmas."  
  
Kate started back to the shop. "Same to you." She took a few more steps, then looked back. "Hey, you know you look just like..."  
  
"Yeah, I know," the bum cut her off. "I get it all the time."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kate opened the door and was attacked.   
  
"Kate! I was so worried! It's 11 degrees out there!" Ryan stared at her.   
  
"No... Really? Funny, I heard those same words spoken earlier. Hmm. Must have been a genius that uttered those words. Now, who was it? Oh, that's right. It was me." She looked up at her best friend. "Where have you been?"  
  
"Hell and back." Ryan wrapped his arms slowly around Kate's shoulders and gently kissed her forehead. "Thank you for... everything, I guess. You've been everything to me and I don't know where I'd be without you."  
  
Kate looked over Ryan's shoulder at the other three standing there for some kind of explanation and was rewarded with three equally confused shrugs. Then Ryan pulled away. "Come on, we have a tree to decorate." He grabbed Kate's hand and dragged her to the tree.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Elizabeth stared in the window for a minute and smiled. Then, with a small sigh, she tightened the scarf and walked down the block, whistling to no one in particular.  
  
________________________________THE END______________________________  
  
Now, if there's any die hard Fri13th nuts out there that catch some of the (well hidden) in-jokes, you have earned my respect. But only if you prove it :-)  
  
  
  
  



End file.
